A rain out on Saturday necessitated a double header to be scheduled for Monday April 27th between the Las Vegas 51s and the Albuquerque Isotopes at Cashman Field. In the first of the two 7-inning games, the 51s sent right-hander Noah Syndergaard to the mound. After missing his last start due to illness, Syndergaard looked the most dominant he has in this young season, holding the Isotopes scoreless on 2 hits in his first career complete game shutout.
Albuquerque shortstop Cristhian Adames singled to left with one out in the first. But with two outs he was caught stealing by catcher Johnny Monell. That allowed Syndergaard to face the minimum number of batters through 6. He didn’t issue a single walk and struck out 9. He trimmed his ERA to 2.45. Syndergaard bested top Colorado Rockies prospect, right-hander Jon Gray, as Las Vegas handed him his third loss of the season.
Syndergaard also contributed to the offense, collecting a single and a double and scoring two runs. Shortstop Matt Reynolds went 3-4 in game one with a single and two doubles. He drove in 3 and scored 3. Monell went 2-4 and also drove in 3 runs. Single runs were driven in by second baseman Dilson Herrera and third baseman Alex Castellanos, each also collecting 2 hits.
Lefty Darin Gorski started for Las Vegas in the nightcap, pitching 5 solid innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Gorski doubled in the second inning driving in a run, so both 51s starters collected doubles on the night. The other second inning run scored on a groundout by catcher Dan Rohlfing.
Gorski didn’t get a decision as he left the game in a 2-2 tie. Lefty Duane Below pitched a scoreless top of the sixth, before Castellanos came up to break the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a laser of a home run to left field. After Below struck out shortstop Joey Wong to start the top of the seventh, righty Chase Bradford came on to finish up. After a single by pinch hitter Willin Rosario, Bradford coaxed center fielder Brandon Barnes to hit into a game-ending double play to earn the save.
Prior to sweeping the twin bill, the 51s took the first game of the series on Sunday by a score of 10-4 behind starter Matthew Bowman who bounced back after a rocky outing against Fresno in his previous start. Bowman went 5.2 innings giving up 3 runs, 2 earned on 5 hits after not allowing a hit in the first 4 innings. His offense collected 11 hits including two each from Herrera, Monell, Castellanos and center fielder Darrell Ceciliani who drove in 4 on the afternoon.
Las Vegas and Albuquerque will play the final game of the series on Tuesday afternoon. Right-hander Tyler Pill will start, still looking for his first win.